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Dave Loan, owner of ZenKitchen, said he expects to reopen his popular restaurant at the end of July, after receiving thousands of dollars in donations as well as a helping hand from an angel investor.
“It feels wonderful to know that we’ll be able to reopen and that we’ve had so much community support,” Loan said. He added that he’s adamant on getting the restaurant, a five-year dream, back on its feet.
Loan said he was moved by the outpouring of support when he was forced to close down in May, after the Canada Revenue Agency seized $4,000 from his business bank account over unpaid Harmonized Sales Tax.
A fundraiser earlier this month raised roughly $10,000 toward reopening the business and an online crowdfunded campaign added another $7,000, which will be used to pay back staff.
Loan added that the angel investor, who was a regular customer of the restaurant, offered to help and “it’s made a huge difference.”
Loan said he wishes the restaurant could open sooner, but one of the major hurdles is the arduous process of negotiating a lease.
The restaurant’s former chef, Kyle Mortimer-Proulx said he was thinking about opening up a restaurant with one of his senior cooks, David Gick, but their dream dissolved when it became clear Loan could keep ZenKitchen alive.
Mortimer-Proulx said it was disappointing to leave the restaurant since “I had a very good team with me and I hired and groomed a lot of great people and we’re all focusing on putting out a lot of high quality food.”
He has just started into his new position Monday as head chef at Lowertown brew pub that serves brisket, corn beef and chicken with a variety of sides, which he said is a departure from the refined cooking at ZenKitchen.
“It could be tough to find a place that is such a polar opposite of ZenKitchen,” he said, adding that he sees his new job as a positive step forward.
For fans of the ZenKitchen, Loan said there might be a few changes coming to restaurant when it reopens.
Loan said he hopes to expand the restaurant into the second floor of the building and bring the menu back to “its roots in high-end vegan comfort food,” but nothing has been finalized quite yet.
anguyen@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
“It feels wonderful to know that we’ll be able to reopen and that we’ve had so much community support,” Loan said. He added that he’s adamant on getting the restaurant, a five-year dream, back on its feet.
Loan said he was moved by the outpouring of support when he was forced to close down in May, after the Canada Revenue Agency seized $4,000 from his business bank account over unpaid Harmonized Sales Tax.
A fundraiser earlier this month raised roughly $10,000 toward reopening the business and an online crowdfunded campaign added another $7,000, which will be used to pay back staff.
Loan added that the angel investor, who was a regular customer of the restaurant, offered to help and “it’s made a huge difference.”
Loan said he wishes the restaurant could open sooner, but one of the major hurdles is the arduous process of negotiating a lease.
The restaurant’s former chef, Kyle Mortimer-Proulx said he was thinking about opening up a restaurant with one of his senior cooks, David Gick, but their dream dissolved when it became clear Loan could keep ZenKitchen alive.
Mortimer-Proulx said it was disappointing to leave the restaurant since “I had a very good team with me and I hired and groomed a lot of great people and we’re all focusing on putting out a lot of high quality food.”
He has just started into his new position Monday as head chef at Lowertown brew pub that serves brisket, corn beef and chicken with a variety of sides, which he said is a departure from the refined cooking at ZenKitchen.
“It could be tough to find a place that is such a polar opposite of ZenKitchen,” he said, adding that he sees his new job as a positive step forward.
For fans of the ZenKitchen, Loan said there might be a few changes coming to restaurant when it reopens.
Loan said he hopes to expand the restaurant into the second floor of the building and bring the menu back to “its roots in high-end vegan comfort food,” but nothing has been finalized quite yet.
anguyen@ottawacitizen.com
查看原文...
